Intelligent Praise Part 1: How to Praise with Purpose sermon notes. Our workshop aims to elevate each of our personal praise levels to a new high. The Lord has blessed us with great praise bands. We need to worship with intelligent praise. Every week, they bring the presence of God into our church in praise. Nothing would please the Lord and them more than to see us, the congregation, respond at a higher level to their labor and the Lord’s gift to us.
Intelligent Praise Part 1: How to Praise with Purpose
By Pastor Delbert Young
Intelligent Praise Part 1: How to Praise with Purpose
Scriptures: Psalms 47:7, Luke 19:37-40, Psalms 24:6-8, Matthew 21:15-16, Psalms 150:1-6, Matthew 21:16, Psalm 8:2, Acts 16:23-26, 1 Chronicles 25:1, 2 Chronicles 20:13-25,
Biblical praise should be fun, exciting, exuberant, fulfilling, and enjoyable. We should enjoy the music and the “goosebumps.” However, praise should accomplish something. Praise should be with intelligence. Intelligent Praise will change a great praise service into a victorious life experience.
PRAISE WITH INTELLIGENCE
(KJV) Psalms 47:7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
(TLB) Psalms 47:7 Yes, sing your highest praises to our King, the King of all the earth. Sing thoughtful praises!
We are taught in Psalm 47:7 to praise the Lord with understanding. The Hebrew word translated understanding is sakal (Strong’s #7919), meaning to be circumspect [careful and calculating] and hence intelligent.
Our praise to God should be with intelligence. We are to place thought (TLB) into praise. We should know something about praise. Praise should be done with understanding (KJV), or with intelligence.
Our workshop will examine some things we need to understand about praise.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
PRAISE WILL DISPLEASE THOSE WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND PRAISE.
The Bible tells us the interesting story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and how the praise given displeased many people.
Luke 19:37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
As the presence of the Lord came, people began to joyfully praise God. This upset some people.
Luke 19:39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
Luke 19:40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.
Praise does not upset the Lord Jesus, but it does upset people who do not understand praise. Jesus understands praise. Something needed to praise him for the presence of the King of kings to enter. If the people would not, the stones along the road would. That’s what we are after every Sunday morning, and we crank up praise every time. We want the king’s presence to enter.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
Psalms 24:6-8
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
As we praise him by lifting up our heads and hands and hearts, we open the gates for the King of glory to come in. Something must praise him
Some people want praise stopped and those who do it rebuked, but that’s not the way Jesus views praise
Joyful praise with loud voices accompanies the presence of the King. Praise acknowledges God’s presence. Praise acknowledges our receiving God’s presence in our lives. It would be easy to know where the presence of the Lord was as he came down the mountain by the praise being given. We can know the Lord is present in our church by praise being given
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
The praise also continued as the procession with Jesus continued into Jerusalem and toward the temple. Jesus entered and cleansed the temple, healed and ministered to people, and that praise continued.
Matthew 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
Matthew 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Those who did not understand praise were sore displeased. Praise had made them sore. Exuberant and loud praise rubs people who do not understand praise the wrong way. It literally aggravates them and makes them sore displeased.
It amazes me that people who are not intelligent about praise try to tell people who are intelligent about praise how praise should be done.
They came to Jesus and asked if he had heard how they were praising him. Jesus said he had, and then he asked them, “Have you never read…?”
That is precisely how we should respond to people who lack intelligence about praise. “Have you never read the Bible?” We could make a long list of how the Bible reads regarding praise, but Psalm 150—the last Psalm—sums up the psalms and sums up praise.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
Psalms 150:1-5
1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
There is enough information in that one Psalm to conduct a workshop. We praise the Lord from the sanctuary into the heavens. We praise him for what he has done and for who he is, and we praise him with the trumpet, the harp, the lyre (drums), the tambourine, dancing, string instruments, the flute, and the cymbals. David said that if we have breath, we should praise the Lord. In other words, I should praise the Lord with something as long as I am alive.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
At Life Gate Church, we do indeed attempt to do what Psalm 150 instructs us to do, even if it causes some people to be sore displeased. We made a decision early on at Life Gate that we would not allow what people said to determine our direction. We had read the Bible and wanted to go all out for God, and praise is a large part of that.
I challenge you to go all out for and with God. Do what Psalm 150 says. Praise him with everything you have.
One of the first things we learn about praise is that it will sore displease many.
PRAISE WILL STOP THE ENEMY’S ATTACK.
Matthew 21:16 …And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Jesus was referencing Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16.
Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger
When we praise with intelligence, we can perfect praise. Perfected praise will still the enemy and the avenger. The Hebrew word shabath, translated still in Psalm 8:2, means “to repose [relax], i.e., desist [stop] from exertion, vacation.”
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
When we intelligently praise the Lord, we make the enemy take a vacation! Think about that. When I praise the Lord, the enemy must stop all exertion upon my life.
I don’t care what you are going through. When you praise the Lord, the enemy must get his hands off of you. Tell the enemy to take a vacation.
A supernatural strength comes during intelligent praise that will stop and silence the devil. I recall a time when I felt the enemy had me by the throat. I felt as though I was being strangled. It wasn’t good. It was a horrific moment in my life. I was terrified, embarrassed, and seemingly helpless.
However, I came to church Sunday not knowing what would happen in my future, but when the praise service began, I began praising the Lord with all my might. I hadn’t planned to praise that way. It just happened. As I did, I felt the clinch of the enemy release. He was forced to take a vacation from me. As I praised, I felt the love of God and love from people.
It did not end at that praise service. That entire circumstance changed. Over a period of a few weeks, my most horrible experience turned into one of my most significant victories. It was because I praised with intelligence.
The Bible tells us about a situation that Paul and Silas experienced in Acts 16. They were doing what they felt the Lord told them to do, following the Spirit the best they could. Suddenly, things turned sour. They were arrested and placed in jail.
Acts 16:23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Acts 16:24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
There are times in life when you feel you are in stocks, flogged, and imprisoned. I don’t know what may be holding you in prison today, but I do know that what worked for Paul and Silas will work for you, too.
Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
It was a dark time for Paul and Silas – midnight. Those who do not understand praise refuse to praise God in their darkest hour. They question God and wonder where God is. He is waiting for you to praise him. If you can praise him in your darkest hour, you will praise him every hour.
Paul and Silas understood intelligent praise. Anyone can praise God when things are good. Intelligent praise will praise God at midnight. If you praise the Lord, the foundations of the thing that holds you prisoner will begin to shake. The doors will open. Your bands, and everyone bound up with you, will released. You will be freed from the prison that you are in. The enemy must take a vacation.
It is impossible to praise the Lord and be in bondage to the enemy simultaneously. Praise will stop the enemy. Jesus referred to Psalm 8:2. Jesus spoke of perfect praise. Praise is perfected when it stops the enemy. We can make the enemy take a vacation if we praise with intelligence.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
PRAISE WILL SUPERNATURAL GO BEFORE US.
In 2 Chronicles 20, we are told a most interesting account of the power of praise. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. Enemies (plural) had come to destroy the people of God. Jehoshaphat prayed, but the enemies remained. Then he began to fast, but the enemies remained. Also, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a time for the entire nation to pray and fast, but the enemies remained as strong and numerous as ever.
Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever prayed, but nothing changed? You went on a fast, but nothing changed. You got others to pray for you and even fast with you, but nothing changed. Probably most Christ followers have experienced this. We must do what Jehoshaphat did, and that was not to stop with prayer and fasting. Intelligent praise will do something that nothing else will do.
A prophet named Jahaziel was in the temple, a descendant of Asaph (20: 1Chr 15:19; 1Chr 25:1). Asaph, Jahaziel’s ancestor, returned to King David’s day.
1 Chronicles 25:1 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals . . .
Jahaziel understood praise. Praise was in his genealogy. He knew about intelligent praise.
Jahaziel knew that musical instruments could stir up something supernatural. King Jehoshaphat called for a church service.
2 Chronicles 20:13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
Jahaziel began the praise service with the stringed instruments, drums, and cymbals. As the people started singing and praising, the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
2 Chronicles 20:14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel . . . a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
Jahaziel gave a prophecy with instructions on how to defeat the enemies. The instructions were to place praise out front and make praise the priority.
2 Chronicles 20:21 …he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
There are times when praise must be the priority. We should pray and fast, but sometimes, nothing will get it done but praise!
Amazingly, that is all they needed to do.
2 Chronicles 20:22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The Lord caused confusion among the enemies, and they began fighting each other. When the people of God arrived, all they had to do was take the spoils.
2 Chronicles 20:25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value – more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
Supernatural things happen when we praise the Lord with intelligence. This story shows that the prophetic word can come to us. Praise should be a priority. Praise creates confusion among the enemies and causes them to self-destruct. Furthermore, praise provides plunder for the people of God.
What enemies surround you today? I know you have prayed. Some of you have fasted. You have probably gotten others to pray for you. But have you praised the Lord? I mean really praised the Lord. Have you gone after it as the priority, wide open, and with loud voices? Have you put praise out front? God will move the enemy for you and give you the plunder, if you will.
Intelligent praise is allowing praise to go before us to create supernatural victories.
We are about to go into the sanctuary and joyfully praise the Lord. Let’s enjoy the music and the singing, but let’s accompany the King of kings into our hearts. Let’s sore displease some folks. Also, let’s tell the devil to take a vacation. Moreover, let’s shake some foundations and open some prison doors. Furthermore, let’s let praise go before us all week long so we can collect the plunder.
Intelligent Praise Part 1: How to Praise with Purpose
Intelligent Praise Part 1 sermon notes
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The Beautiful And The Intelligent
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Intelligent Praise Part 2 sermon notes
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